Sights and Sounds of Salzberg

So in the morning we arrived in Germany, were there for maybe 15 minutes and then got on a train to Austria. We go into Salzberg and stored our bags in lockers at the train station. I know it's a silly thing to be excited about but the locker was big enough to fit all three of our bags and only cost like $6 to rent all day. The first thing we did was go eat. We went to a bar because it was basically the only thing open near the train station, mind you it was about 10 in the morning and we ordered breakfast. While trying to order we realized that we knew even less German than we did French. Considering my best friend is a German major I think it's safe to say I totally fail!

After breakfast we figured out how to use the ticket machine for the bus, seriously not very easy and then we got on a bus to the old part of Salzberg. The city is absolutely beautiful. Very fairytale-ish. We walked around a little and then got on the trolly up to the Fortress. So this trolly basically goes straight up the cliff, it's awesome.

The Fortress is kind of like a little town, there were different buildings.

but the best part about it was the view. As for the most beautiful places we went our whole trip this was the top. Just absolutely amazing, pictures do not do it justice at all.

One of the fun things in the fortress was the marionette museum. Liz and Joe got creative while taking pictures :) everyone that was in the room was busting up laughing.

After we came down from the fortress we walked around the city some more.

They had an open-air market with tons of stuff but most importantly they had these huge soft pretzels, they were awesome. They also had a water spout with the best water I've ever had in my whole life!!!

Then it was time for the sound of music tour, so we went to the new side of town to get ready to get on the bus. While we waited we had sausages that were really good.

So the tour was really fun I loved it.

I learned tons of fun stuff about the movie and got to see all the places they filmed it. Our tour guide lady was pretty cute and fun.

We started at the house they used to film the back of the house scenes. Interestingly they didn't use the same house for the shots of the garden as the actual back of the house, they are two different houses. So the first one we saw was the garden view, with the lake.

The next place we went was the house they used for the front of the house, the back of the house and the scene with the bikes and climbing trees. we decided to skip like she does at the beginning of the movie.

Then we went and saw the Gazebo from the movie. This was my favorite basically because "you are sixteen" has a special place in my heart.

After that we went to see the church that they used for the ceremony at the end. We stopped on the way to see some of the beautiful lakes that are there. Seriously if i could build a vacation home anywhere in the world I think that would be a strong contender.

Then we got to the town with the chapel.

We decided to eat before going in the church since most people were going in the church first. We had the best apple strudel in the entire world!!! it was so darn good. I'd go back to that town just for the Apple Strudel!

That was our last stop on the tour and then it was time to head home. Did I mention that we sang songs from the whole movie any time we were on the bus! Best. Tour. Ever!

After the tour we went back to see some of the other sights from the movie and took pictures at them.

At this point we were dead tired! absolutely exhausted but we had to get something to eat. SO we walked back into the old part of town and funnily enough ended up in front of Mozart home, so we took a picture.

We decided to eat at this hole in the wall type place. The guy running it was wearing lederhosen but not as a costume, they were obviously his actual work clothes because the leather was all worn. It was awesome. We also had a really awesome dinner of sausages, pizza and wiener-schnitzel which was really really good.

After dinner we just walked around the town some more. Then I had to go to the bathroom so we walked around more to find one. We walked in a lot of circles in Salzberg. We finally found an open bathroom in the Music school. We also found awesomely comfortable bean bags that we sat on until we decided wee should probably leave before they threw us out.

After that we went back to the part of town where the train station was.

We ended up back at that same bar that we went to for breakfast and we got some dessert, while killing time for our train. Sadly our train wasn't coming till 1am and by this time we were already so so exhausted! we spent the rest of the time just sitting at the train station. We did see a lunar eclipse while we were sitting there but we were almost too tired to even think that was awesome.

Finally our train came. Sadly this time we had to share our compartment with another guy and he was not very nice. He didn't speak any English and he was just unpleasant. But I guess you win some and lose some right! It was the longest day of our whole trip but it was amazing seeing the sights and the sounds of music of Salzberg.

Last Day in Paris

This morning started out with us going to Notre Dame. It was really beautiful but honestly I could only think about the hunch-back of Notre Dame the whole time :)

After that we went to this little memorial that is right near Notre Dame. Its for those who were killed in the Holocaust from France and it's kind of hidden. You basically go into this little park and then go under ground where the room looks a lot like a jail and then you can see into this hall that has crystals in it and there is one for every person who died. It was pretty cool, and I liked the fact that it wasn't super touristy.

After that we walked to the Pantheon which is not an easy walk because it was all up hill. We decided not to go in because the outside of that building is really the cool part anyways.

Then we walked over to go through the Catacombs. unfortunately the line was really long and the lady said we wouldn't be able to make it through by the time they closed. I was pretty bummed about that because that was something I really wanted to do but oh well I guess I'll have to go back to Paris.

We went back to our Hotel and got our stuff and went to the train station for our first night train. We had lots of time to kill at the train station but it wasn't bad. We bought some really good food and got on our train.

The train was pretty awesome because we had a cabin all to ourselves. I expected sleeping on a train would be really horrible but I got a decent amount of sleep. I couldn't hear the noise of the train over Joe's snoring anyways, which by this time I knew how to handle, Thank you ear plugs! :) So we said good bye to Paris and woke up the next morning in Germany.

Pressed against the Glass

The morning started with more pastries, duh we are in Paris. Then we took our bags and went to the next hotel we would be staying in, still in Paris just kind of the other side. After we dropped of our bags we headed to the Arch De Triumph. It was pretty cool but my favorite part about it is that it is in the middle of the street and you have to go under the street to get there.

Then we started down the Champs-Elysee, which is basically the biggest shopping street ever. But more window shopping than practical shopping. But I did see plenty of things I wouldn't mind having.

Joe did actually buy something on the Champs-Elysee though, a pair of really nice Nike shoes and then his feet were a little happier for the rest of the trip because his other shoes were giving him pretty nasty blisters.

Well my favorite store was the Louis Vuitton store and I was literally pressed up against the glass at it's windows,

and why.....they had a shoe Ferris wheel!!!!!!! coolest thing ever!!!!! My new life goal is to have one of those! :)

After walking down the whole street we had some crepes and then lunch in the park in front of the Louvre. Lunch was really nice, it was perfect weather and just really nice to sit down and rest after all that walking. On our way to the Louvre after we saw the coolest kids park ever. It was like a trampoline pit, with just a bunch of tramps. It reminded me of Jump on It, but this was cooler because it was just like a regular park.

The Louvre line wasn't too bad and once inside it was actually pretty uncrowded. We got to see all the famous works that we wanted to.

The Mona Lisa was really interesting to me because everyone told me not to be disappointed in how small it was. Well I guess I was so ready for it to be tiny that it seemed pretty normal sized to me. I was able to get right up front ( not exactly against the glass) I think I would've been shot if I got that close but close enough to get a really good picture.

We stayed until the Museum closed.

I think Liz Joe and I can all agree that one of our favorite things in the museum was the air conditioning vents on the ground. :)

After the Louvre we walked around the city a little before heading back to our hotel for the night.